Thursday, December 15, 2016

The ​National Weather Service has issued a Wind Chill Advisory from 9 PM this evening to 9 AM tomorrow (Friday, December 16). A Wind Chill Advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. If precautions are not taken, this will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia. ​As a precaution, they recommend wearing a hat and gloves if you are outdoors. Please make sure everyone is bundled up appropriately tomorrow morning for the bus!
Thank you,
Chip McGee

Monday, December 12, 2016

Hello, this is Chip McGee, Superintendent of Schools for the Bedford School District. Today is December 12, 2016. School will be closed today for students due to weather conditions. Stay warm. Thank you.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Coming December 13th from 6-8 in the BHS Theater! Please join us for an evening to showcase the programs and opportunities available at Manchester School of Technology. Students and instructors will be on hand to display and discuss the particulars and opportunities that exist within their courses and programs. Opportunities for college credit and apprenticeships will also be a focal point of the evening!

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Bedford School District is seeking two community members to join a District team to discuss how to strengthen community participation and problem solve the challenges associated with the leadership of public schools. The initial meeting will be a one day workshop on January 9, 2017. If interested please contact Superintendent Chip McGee via email at mcgeec@sau25.net or by phone at 603-472-3755 ext. 7.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

I want to invite everyone to come to the Bedford PTG Meeting this Thursday, November 3rd at 7:30 p.m. at BCTV, 10 Meetinghouse Road. I will update the PTG on our enrollments, next year's budget priorities, and our students' academic performance. I will also be happy to answer any questions you bring with you! Thanks to the PTG, light refreshments will be served at 7:30p.m. and I will start promptly at 7:45 p.m. Children are welcome to attend. Feel free to email any questions or comments for me ahead to bedfordnhptg@gmail.com. I hope to see you there!

Bedford Early Education Program (BEEP) is still accepting registrations for the 2016-2017 School Year. We have space available in many of our 3 year old classrooms. Please contact Roberta Keane, BEEP Coordinator at (603) 627-1776 x3216 or keaner@sau25.net.

BEEP is a regular early childhood program providing the opportunity for typically developing three and four year old children and children identified as having special needs to learn and play together. We believe active participation and concrete learning experiences make learning more meaningful for the children and best serve their development and learning. All the children are provided a multi-sensory learning environment in which they utilize all senses in learning new concepts. Language development and social skills are emphasized throughout the integrated curriculum. Implementation of specialized intervention within natural situations occurs without disrupting the curriculum and educational routines of the classroom.

Staff:

Classrooms are staffed by certified educators with a background in early childhood and special education. In addition, our staff includes a licensed speech and language pathologist, a speech assistant, licensed occupational therapist, occupational therapy assistant, licensed physical therapist, classroom assistants and a program coordinator. Educational consultants are available as needed. Throughout a BEEP day, each classroom has a teacher and assistant at all times, and other therapists and paraprofessionals may join the classroom periodically.

Programs:

·Classroom programs for 3 and 4 year olds are provided two, three, four, or five days a week for 2 ½ hours a day.

·The Intensive Needs program offers the opportunity for an individualized self-contained, or partially self-contained program..

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Community members may be interested in reading the full report of the Community Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The survey is conducted bi-annually among students at Bedford High School and across the state and country. The survey helps the district monitor trends in students' risky behaviors. As a district, we use these results to shape our intervention strategies to help students make healthier decisions.

Friday, June 17, 2016

McKelvie Intermediate School is preparing for the roof replacement project that will take place this summer. The first step in this process is to vacuum the roof, which can be a very loud process. We want to notify the community that this is currently scheduled for Tuesday 6/21/16 and Wednesday 6/22/16. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any disruption that the noise may cause.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

The Bedford District is asking parents of
students currently in grades 6 thru 8 to select an option for your
student to participate in the District’s Chromebook 1-to-1 Program. We
believe this program is a tremendous opportunity for our students and
teachers to improve teaching and learning.

Parents are asked to purchase a Chromebook device for their student choosing one of the following options:

Purchase a Chromebook on your own,

Purchase a Chromebook directly from the district (with optional accidental breakage/theft insurance) with a one-time payment,

Lease to Own a Chromebook directly from the district with an annual
payment for 3 years (accidental breakage/theft insurance included).

For families that do not opt into the Chromebook 1-to-1 Program, a
loaner will be provided to the student during the school day. The
loaner must be checked in and out daily and will not be allowed to leave
the school.

Please click on this link
to select the option for your student to participate in this exciting
program. We are asking that parents submit their selection for their
child by June 3rd so that we can secure the best pricing and plan for purchasing and deployment.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Well, that was quite a day at Bedford High School and Lurgio Middle School. I am grateful for everyone working together as we went through several emergency drills. Now that everyone is home safely, I want to take a moment to share with the community the events that led us here and to make a request so we can all learn from it moving forward.

First, some background on how we got here.

On May 9, our staff found a graffiti mark in a bathroom at Bedford High School. It had the date 5/19/16 on it and the words "it will come." That same day, Principal Hagen and our Bedford Police School Resource Officer Donahue investigated the graffiti and determined that is was not a credible threat.

We had our custodial staff clean the graffiti, as we do routinely. Before it was cleaned off, some students used their phones to take pictures of the graffiti and another marking on the wall that looked (to me at least) like a tree with a person in it. As can happen with anything in digital media, those pictures were shared with other students and parents. Several parents contacted school administrators, including one who contacted me directly, to ask about the graffiti. We all worked to answer those questions and explain that they were not seen as a credible threat..

As the photos were passed around social media, comments were added that were not a part of the original graffiti. I think the people commenting may have been speculating on the meaning of the graffiti, including sharing concerns about a possible threat of violence. Some posted these speculations on social media sites asking others for more details.

Last night, Bill Hagen and I spoke again about the speculation on email. We reconfirmed with Officer Donahue that we all agreed that there was no credible threat for today.

This morning, in a separate incident, a student shared with Mr. Hagen that they heard from another student who had overheard a conversation that included something about "Do not be in [this room] at [this time]" (I am leaving out the details as we continue to investigate.) Mr. Hagen called me and the police department immediately. He investigated this incident and was unable to trace back the source of the comment. I convened our emergency team - which included administration and the Bedford police - and decided this threat was also not credible. At the same time, we were aware that many parents and students had read the speculative information on social media. As a result, we decided to run the evacuation drill.

Police helped search the room and reconfirmed that there was no threat. The designated time came and went. Everyone behaved beautifully as we ran these drills.

Second, I hope I can learn something from this.

Although there was never a credible threat involved, when material makes it into social media, the initial facts and context can be lost. In hindsight, I think a public statement from me explaining the issue could have been helpful to address concerns.

I also ask that we all think about a lesson we might learn as a community. Social media is very good at amplifying anxiety and not very good at lowering it. Social media can presents raw information without the benefit of experience and context. I ask that all of us, parents, staff, students, and myself, be extra cautious about sharing information broadly before we know the context. I ask that we all seek to verify information from the source before we share it on social media.

I appreciate your trust in us to keep your children safe, and I will continue to make that my top priority.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

In 2015, Bedford High School students were once again given the opportunity to participate in the Community Youth Risk Behavior Study. The survey is optional, voluntary and anonymous ​ and the results are helpful as the district and community plan ways to strengthen and improve students' resiliency. Click here for survey results.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Bedford
School District is seeking one community member to serve on the Health
Insurance Task Force. The task force was
formed in September of 2015 to address changes in the field of health
insurance. After reporting back to the
School Board in April, the committee has been directed to continue its work. Time commitments for this committee will
include occasional evening meetings and possibly one or two full day
sessions.

Expertise in
either health insurance or health care could be beneficial but is not
required. Letters of interest will be
accepted until Thursday May 5, 2016 and should be directed to:

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Each year, the New Hampshire School Administrators Association recognizes local Champions for Children. The award recognizes outstanding New Hampshire citizens who have given distinguished voluntary public service to benefit children in our communities. The Bedford School District leadership team selected Lisa Nash as this year’s recipient. Lisa was honored at the School Board Meeting on 04/04/16.

Monday, April 4, 2016

The Social Media Presentation "A Predator's Playground" that was previously scheduled for Monday, April 04, 2016 in the Bedford High School theater has been rescheduled to Thursday April 6, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. in the BHS Theater.

We want to make sure everyone in our community knows that none of the water supplying the Bedford Schools comes from the Merrimack Village Water District. Manchester Water Works supplies Peter Woodbury and Memorial. Pennichuck Water Works supplies McKelvie, Lurgio, Bedford High School, and Riddle Brook through a Manchester water source.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

A screening of a video produced jointly by FBI and DEA entitled “Chasing the Dragon” concerning the many aspects of substance abuse. Will be followed by a round table discussion and Q and A from audience. Panelists will include Bedford Police Chief Bryfonski; NH Senator Kelly Ayotte; DEA Special Agent in Charge, Jon DeLena; FBI Special Agent in Charge, Scott O’Donnell; NH State Police Chief, Robert Quinn; and President, NH Chiefs of Police, Robert Cormier.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Thank you to the 3,558 people who voted yesterday as a part of the Annual Bedford School District Election.

Thank you for supporting the budget (56% voted yes), the Nashua Road sidewalk project (58%), and the re-purposing of three capital reserve funds (65%). I also want to welcome Jen DeAngelis, who was elected to the School Board (See you on Monday, March 21, Jen!)

It is important to remember that all of the residents in town, whether they supported the proposed budget or not, will support the schools (and the town government) through property taxes in the coming year. We will work hard to continue to improve - both our work with the children of Bedford and our efforts to be cost effective.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Click here to watch Around Town - School Budget and Other Warrant Articles. The BCTV show is hosted by Dianne Bzik and features School Board Chairman Bill Kassler and Bedford School Superintendent Chip McGee talking about the elements of this years School District Elections on March 8, 2016 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Bedford High School.

There are several vitally
important issues on the school district ballot that need the voter’s approval. We
would like the approval of all the warrant articles listed, but one of the most
important issues is the school district’s budget. Bedford has always been a
frugal town and our per capita spending is more than $2000 below the state
average with all grades combined. There are many things that have combined to
make that happen. Whenever we have had a student population decline, we have
reduced the staff numbers across the board. We have always looked at each
expenditure carefully and tried to maintain the excellence in our award-winning
Bedford schools while keeping the taxes as low as possible.

This year, however, we are
faced with several challenges. The Bedford School District has more students
than ever. A few years ago we saw decreased enrollment in the elementary
schools and cut some teaching positions. Those numbers have started to grow
again. To maintain class sizes at effective levels, we need to hire 4 more
elementary teachers as well as return some of our positions in Art, Music, and
Physical Education to full time. They had been reduced to part-time when student
numbers dropped. A Special Education Resource Room teacher is needed as well as
3 paraprofessionals to accommodate our Special Education population. We are
also recommending an increase in hours for the SEED teacher at Lurgio Middle
School who works with our accelerated learners full-time so that more students
can be challenged to even greater heights. With the Opioid Crisis hitting our
town and state, we strongly support an increased emphasis on prevention in our
schools. Accordingly, the proposed budget includes the addition of a full-time
Drug and Alcohol Counselor at Lurgio-BHS. There are also a few other vital
personnel additions that would be funded with the new budget. The school board
has analyzed all of these additions carefully to make sure that they are truly
needed for our students.

This year for the first time
there is a large difference between the proposed budget and the default budget
that would go into effect if the budget does not pass. One of the main reasons
for this is our new method of calculating the Default Budget. In past years, we
have tried to anticipate all the capital improvements that will be needed for
10 years and organize and prioritize them over that span of time so that there
weren’t huge fluctuations in the tax rates from year to year. We have always
looked on this Capital Expenditure Plan (CEP) as an ongoing cost and included
it in the Default Budget calculation. This year, however, we’ve removed most of
the capital projects we did last year from the Default calculations such as the
roof replacement at Memorial School. Since we’ve included the roof replacement
at McKelvie School in this year’s budget, it looks as if there’s a big
increase, but it’s really just a new method of defining the Default Budget.

There are so many important
components of what makes the Bedford School District the award winning entity
that it is and what makes so many people move here for the sake of their
children’s education. Please think about what would have to be reduced if the
budget doesn’t pass and $2.3 million has to be taken out of next year’s budget:
larger class sizes, missed opportunity for drug and alcohol prevention, less
enrichment opportunities, potential cuts in academic co-curriculars, athletics,
and more. So please come to the polls on
March 8 and support the Bedford Schools and our children and vote for the
school district’s budget.

Friday, February 19, 2016

I want to wish you all a relaxing break next week. I have found that my own challenges - with work, students, or colleagues -- can grow to seem overwhelming during the day-to-day grind of the school year. Winter Break can provide a little bit of time for me to regain some perspective. It helps me remember that we have a strong and resilient community, and we are all working towards the same goals. Plus, pitchers and catchers reported today so all is right in the world again!

I also have a small request. I find it helpful to get feedback directly from you all. Here is a very short survey about my performance as a superintendent. Before March 4, please take a few minutes to fill it out to let me know how I am doing. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Chip McGee

--

The mission of the Bedford School District is to develop a community of learners who are intellectually curious, resourceful, and respectful of self and others. Academic achievement, through constantly improving standards, is the district's highest priority.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

All classes will have a two hour delay today. This will give time for the department of public works to clear the roads and our maintenance department to clear access to our schools. It will also give time for the temperature to rise. There will be no AM Kindergarten and no AM Preschool. Stay dry. Thank you.

Everyone plays a part
in suicide prevention. NAMI NH is
collaborating with the Makin’ It Happen Greater Manchester Suicide Prevention
Coalition to implement the Connect Program across the region. Postvention
training promotes healing and reducing risk for all community members in the
aftermath of a sudden death, to include suicide. For
more information about this recent training initiative, please contact Chip
McGee, Bedford Superintendent, at #472-3755 ext. 7 or at mcgeec@sau25.org. For more information on the Connect Program
and suicide prevention efforts in New Hampshire, go to www.theconnectprogram.org or to www.makinithappen.org.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Budget Information HERE. All voters in Bedford are urged to come to the Bedford School District Deliberative Session on Tuesday, February 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bedford High School Theater. This is when the community either affirms or revises the School Board's proposed budget for 2016-17 (The budget is presented in the School District Warrant.) The proposed budget is $68.3M, a 3.9% increase over this year. The increase is primarily because of personnel, health insurance benefits, and significant building maintenance. Voting on the warrant is on Tuesday, March 8 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Bedford High School gymnasium. If the proposed budget is voted down, the default budget would be $2.3M lower.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

All voters in Bedford are urged to come to the Bedford School District Deliberative Session on Tuesday, February 2 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bedford High School Theater. This is when the community either affirms or revises the School Board's proposed budget for 2016-17 (The budget is presented in the School District Warrant.) The proposed budget is $68.3M, a 3.9% increase over this year. The increase is primarily because of personnel, health insurance benefits, and significant building maintenance. Voting on the warrant is on Tuesday, March 8 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Bedford High School gymnasium. If the proposed budget is voted down, the default budget would be $2.3M lower. Additional information can be found here.